The Inquisition Trial of Jerónimo de Rojas, A Morisco of Toledo (1601-1603)

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This book includes the whole transcription of the trial of a converted Muslim (Morisco) from Toledo, condemned to die at the stake at the beginning of the 17th century. In their study of the trial, the authors address the question of how and to what extent Inquisition documents can be used as an historical source by contextualizing and analysing its multifaceted aspects as well as its protagonists and participants, victim, witnesses, and inquisitors. The authors elucidate the beliefs and practices of the culprit, situating his ordeal in the framework of Morisco life and its connections with North African Islam. By so doing they shed light on questions of Inquisitorial procedure, witnessing and testimony, the extent of confession, the effects of life in prison, the relations of trust between inmates and the consequences of isolation.
Copyright Year:
2022
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-50160-7
Publication:
31 Jan 2022
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-50159-1
Publication:
03 Feb 2022
Cover The Inquisition Trial of Jerónimo de Rojas, A Morisco of Toledo (1601-1603)

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Mercedes García-Arenal, Ph.D. (1979), is a Research Professor at the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) in Madrid. She is a cultural and religious historian specialised in religious minorities on which she has published and edited many books, such as The Orient in Spain. Converted Muslims, the Forged Lead Books of Granada and the Rise of Orientalism (Brill, 2013) and The Expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain. A Mediterranean Diaspora (Brill, 2016).

Rafael Benítez Sánchez-Blanco, Ph.D. (1976), Universidad de Valencia (Spain), is Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at that university. He has published monographs, editions, articles and chapters of books on Moriscos and the Spanish Inquisition, for example Heroicas decisiones. La Monarquía Católica y los moriscos valencianos (Alfons el Màgnanim, 2001).
"[Jerónimo de Rojas’s] sentence to the stake was opposed by the most senior and experienced of his interrogators, but the Supreme Council of the Inquisition overrode his opinion. As García-Arenal and Sánchez-Blanco point out, this was a moment when the attitude of the Spanish government to the Moriscos was hardening while preparations were being made for their expulsion in 1609. The execution of Jerónimo de Rojas is one of a number of dramatic episodes pointing towards the final tragedy, and the edition of his trial is an important contribution to our knowledge of a grim moment in Spanish history."
- Alastair Hamilton (Warburg Institute, London). Journal of Ecclesiastical History 74 (2023): 193–4.
Preface and Acknowledgments IX
List of IllustrationsI
Introduction

1 Jerónimo de Rojas before the Tribunal
 1.1 First Stage: Defiance
 1.2 Second Stage: Collapse
 1.3 The Trial History of Rojas’s Family and Others Denounced by Enríquez

2 The Scene and the Protagonists
 2.1 Jerónimo de Rojas
 2.2 Fray Hernando de Santiago
 2.3 Villarín, the Bigamist from Galicia
 2.4 Francisco Enríquez, the Informer
 2.5 Officers of the Inquisition
 2.6 The Scene: Toledo in the Time of Rojas

3 The Moriscos
 3.1 From the Conversions to the War of the Alpujarras (1501–1570)
 3.2 The War of the Alpujarras
 3.3 From the War of the Alpujarras to Philip III’s Early Reign
 3.4 The Political Shift of Philip III’s Early Reign

4 The Inquisition
 4.1 Harsh Repression by the Tribunals of Granada, Zaragoza, and Valencia
 4.2 Activity of the Llerena Tribunal
 4.3 The Toledo Tribunal
 4.4 The Limits of the Holy Office

5 The Conversations in Prison
 5.1 Life in Prison
 5.2 Rojas’s Religious Beliefs and Practices
 5.3 Abentute or Ibn Tūda
 5.4 Al-Hajarī

6 The Granadan Forgeries, Miguel de Luna, and the Religious Polemic
 6.1 The Parchment and the Lead Books of the Sacromonte in Granada
 6.2 Miguel de Luna
 6.3 Religious Polemic
 6.4 Muhamad Alguazir, Pastrana, and Ocaña
 6.5 Juan Pérez

7 Secret Prisons and Letters
 7.1 The Sequence of Events and Papers
 7.2 The Language of the Letters and Rojas’s Knowledge of Christianity

8 Conclusions

9 The Trial Transcript
 1 Introductory Note
 2 Denunciation and Imprisonment
 3 Rojas’s Communications and Letters
 4 Witness Statements
 5 Statements by Jerónimo de Rojas
 6 The Accusation
 7 Response to the Accusation
 8 Publication of the Witness Statements
 9 Response to the Publication of the Witness Statements
 10 Written Defense
 11 Second Publication of the Witness Statements
 12 Vote on the Case
 13 Torture
 14 The Sentence
 15 Establishment of the Date of the Crime
Bibliography
This is a book for academic historians, university and postgraduate students. It is a good tool for teaching and learning to use Inquisition material.
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